Currently, the school disciplinary system too often serves as the entry point into the juvenile justice system. System-involved youth are less likely to graduate and more likely to wind up in the adult criminal system than similarly-situated peers. School-based diversion is a concept that recognizes that youth who are getting in trouble at school often have mental or behavioral health needs, or may be struggling with stressors and trauma at home. So rather than harsh punishments, students are set up with a mental health professional who can help give them tools to cope. Because of the lack of community-based providers, this particular model of school-based diversion would be pared with health providers that work in clinics in the schools.
